Cardinals bring big bat back to the lineup, option another back to Memphis
When the St. Louis Cardinals placed catcher Iván Herrera on the injured list on April 7, he was leading the team with four home runs. More than a month later, he trails team co-leaders Willson Contreras and Lars Nootbaar by one home run early.
That’s a testament in part to the quality of his start, but more so to their acute need to return him to the lineup.
Herrera suffered a bone bruise in his left knee at Fenway Park just down the street from Beacon Hill, and he returned to the St. Louis lineup at Nationals Park on Friday just down the street from Capitol Hill. He was penciled in as the designated hitter against lefty Washington starter Mitchell Parker, and it’s that kind of load management that the team hopes will help keep him healthy from here on out.
First baseman Luken Baker was optioned to Triple-A Memphis as the corresponding roster move, allowing Yohel Pozo to stay in the big leagues as the Cardinals keep three catchers as part of their desire to alleviate the burden on Herrera.
“We kept the third catcher and sent Baker out to protect against the knee early on,” manager Oli Marmol explained. “So for the next couple weeks, we can ease our way into DH him, catch him, DH him, give him an off day, but play however needed knowing that we have protection in the third catcher.”
“I’m here to help the team win, and that’s all I care about,” Herrera said. “[If] I’m gonna be playing shortstop, I’ll play shortstop. If I’m gonna be DHing, I’ll DH. That’s not a big deal to me. If they want to manage the load, that’s something I understand. I feel pretty good, so we’ll see how things go.”
As Herrera progressed through his rehab in recent weeks, the team was encouraged by how his knee responded to the stresses of squatting to catch and torquing as part of a swing. The last hill to climb, however, was in running the bases, and soreness lingered for a number of days.
In his last rehab appearance, on Wednesday in Charlotte, Herrera said that lingering pain finally subsided. As if to provide his recovery beyond any shadow of a doubt, he stole second base as part of a double steal in the first inning, and then took it straight in the ninth inning.
Two steals in a minor league game might be a touch overkill for a catcher who has five career steals in the big leagues (and before Wednesday, a total of 25 over eight seasons in the minors) but the point was made, and Herrera joined the team for its series in Washington, more or less precisely on schedule.
“Both of those guys [Pozo and Pedro Pagés] have done a nice job behind the plate in a lot of different ways,” Marmol said of the month Herrera missed. “They’ve taken good at bats, but they’ve also worked really well with our staff and called good games, controlled the running game. They’ve done a nice job. Easing Herrera in is part of the third catcher deal.”
The other part of that deal is running out of runway for Baker, who performed largely adequately under difficult circumstances. Though he hasn’t yet homered in the majors this season, he did provide three doubles in 34 at bats, seeing extremely limited action despite making the opening day roster.
He started just eight of the team’s first 38 games, and despite securing one of those three doubles in a consolation pinch hit appearance in the Cardinals’ series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, had recorded just six at bats since April 18.
“It’s hard to do what Luken’s doing, especially when you haven’t really done it,” Marmol said. “So [Baker] going down, one, we get to protect Herrera on his way back, and two, it gives him a couple weeks of just getting in a rhythm, getting at bats, and then we can do whatever we need to do once we have a better idea of what it’s looking like.”
Herrera said Friday that he didn’t have a precise gauge on his stats during his rehab assignment, but added sheepishly that he felt like they had been solid. Indeed, he was 9-for-23 with a home run and a double for Memphis, recording two hits in three of his six rehab games. He caught in three of those games and was the designated hitter in the other three, and it’s likely his work schedule back in the big leagues will follow a similar pattern.
Given the depth Herrera provided to the lineup in the season’s opening weeks and the high-octane performances the team was turning in with him at its heart, there’s substantial optimism that he’ll be able to hit the ground running – as long as the running doesn’t hurt too badly. His development ranks in importance among the other young, talented players to whom the Cardinals are committed to for at least the duration of the season, and he is arguably the one who has shown the most to earn a longer commitment than that.
He said Friday that this injury was the longest amount of time he’d spent off the field as a professional, and admitted that at times it was “annoying.” He also seemed beyond eager to make up for lost time.
“I didn’t feel great about it, but you know, that’s something I can’t control,” Herrera said. “I know things happen for a reason, you know? Maybe I’ll come back stronger.”
This story was originally published May 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM.
